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7/8/15

Closed Doors and Open Windows - Guest Blogger Teri Gerdes

I am away on vacation. While away, a
couple of Compassion Bloggers have agreed to make guest posts on my
blog! Enjopy and check out thier blogs for regular doses of
awesomeness!

Closed Door and Open Windows
Our children had the blessing of attending a Christian school. One
of them from 5th-12th grade. One of them from 2nd-12th grade. One of
them from Kindergarten-2nd grade. This school was very small. It was a
school where our children were nurtured in the Word and ways of the
Lord. It was a family. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was
perfect for us during that stage of our lives. Our daughter was a
member of the last graduating class in 2008. Closed doors.

My husband was a member of the Board of Directors for this school.
Making the decision to close the school was not easy, but it was wise.
The economy in our area just didn’t support a school such as ours. For
a few years, a local preschool program rented the building from the
Board which brought in some income as the Board was trying to decide
what the future held for a Christian school such as our humble little
one. In 2013, the preschool organization decided they wanted to buy the
building. Open windows.

The bylaws which the Board of Directors needed to abide by stated
that any money left in the account when they disbanded was to be given
to Christian organizations that had something to do with education.
Each member of the Board was allocated a certain amount and given the
freedom to choose the organization that they wanted their portion given
to. My husband chose Compassion International.

Compassion International’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) to be
exact. Compassion’s LDP is an amazing program! I had personally met
some LDP students while on sponsor tours and at the Advocate conferences
I attended. I desperately wanted to have the chance to pour into the
lives of these dynamic young adults as they studied in University to
become all that God intended them to be. But I needed a major act of
God.

And God did it.

My husband was given a check with a sizeable amount written on it.
All we had to do was choose our students. It was fun to read through
so many biographies of so many deserving students. To pray and ask God
which students He wanted us to have in our lives. We knew we were going
to Colombia that year, so we chose Reyner from Cartagena. Ecuador also
held a deep place n my heart, so we chose Marco from Machala. We were
able to help these two fine men through their entire college career.
And we still had money left over! So, we chose Elkana from Kenya, who
only had a little over a year left. And we still had money left. So
each of them got money to use for a laptop computer or another necessity
for their classes.

Recently, Reyner made the choice to leave the LDP. It was his
choice. We were disappointed. Closed door for him. We hope he remains
in school to finish out his dream, but that is a decision he will have
to make. We know that we poured ourselves into him through a visit with
him and many letters. We showed him Jesus every chance we could. We
love him still. That will never change. But we had some funds left
over from his account that needed to be allocated somewhere else. Open
windows.

Again we looked through biographies and asked God who He wanted in
our lives. That is when we chose Rebecca and John, both students in
Uganda. They both only had a few months left. Then another open
window.

We learned that Marco, our student in Ecuador, would be finishing his studies MUCH earlier than anticipated. Open window.

Back to the website to look at more students. It was then that I saw
Pablo from Nicaragua. I could hardly believe my eyes! Just a few
months before seeing his picture on the website, I had met this young
man. I was on a sponsor tour in Nicaragua, and Pablo was one of the
students who addressed our group. To say he was a dynamic speaker would
be an understatement. I knew that we had to use the extra funds we had
to sponsor Pablo. So we did.

Never in my wildest Compassion dreams, did I ever expect to be able
to have even ONE LDP student in our Compassion family! But God, in His
Ephesians 3:20 way, saw fit to add SIX of them to our hearts!

Sometimes closed doors can be really hard. Even heart-wrenching. I
am so thankful that God opens windows to soothe the pain and heart-ache.Reyner MarcoElkanaJohn RebeccaPablo (in white shirt)

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we
could ever ask for or imagine…to Him be the glory, both now and
forevermore.” Ephesians 3:20

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Killed by the Church, Resurrected by Christ

About Me

I am the author of Killed by the Church, Resurrected by Christ.
My wife and I live in Smithers, BC. I am the pastor of Main Street Christian Fellowship
I am also the Director of the Salvation Army in Smithers and Houston, BC.
Here you will find a mix of devotionals, links, reviews and interviews. I hope you will read this blog and be blessed!